" Ruhaan? " he paused in his tracks, turning around towards his mother's voice.
" Did you have some urgent work? " though he wanted to yes, instead shook his head, as the woman came and held his strong hands between her fragile ones.
He didn't have the heart to deny his mother, when she's calling out to him so vulnerably. He would rather send a text to Krishnangi, informing that they won't be able to continue their investigation today. The secret have to wait for another day to get revealed.
" Please, stay with us. We need you at this moment. I know you're angry with your dad, but he needs you in this phase of his life, Ruh. You've to share his burdens, haina? " he wasn't in good terms with his father ever since he slapped Ruhaan in front of the whole college.
But now, when his father seeks solace in his presence during Vihaan's accident, Ruhaan just couldn't deny it.
" I'll ma'a, and trust me, we'll overcome this together. Dad, Vihaan, you and me. And when this idiot brother of mine will wake up, he's going to get a hard smack on his head from each one of us. " the woman sniffed, putting her head tiredly over Ruhaan's shoulder.
After the nurse exited the room, his mother went inside. Meanwhile he excused himself for a minute. He wanted to call Krishnangi, but then, decided against it.
-I won't be coming today. Caught up in something important. Will continue tomorrow.
Sighing, he went inside to look after Vihaan. Unaware that, on the other side, Krishnangi is impatiently waiting for him and started scrolling through her socials to pass the time. That's when she noticed something that made her eyes go narrower.
A post from Nia!
When she clicked on it, she saw a photo of her and Ruhaan cuddled up, in which seem like a bed. She exhaled loudly at the caption that reads, " Taking an off today and be like this <3 "
Exactly at that moment, Ruhaan's mesaage popped up.
She switched off the device and chuckled bitterly, " Ofcourse, Nia is the important thing that he needs to do. I'm such a stupid girl, she's his girlfriend, surely they'll be busy with each other. And here I'm, fucking stupidly waiting for him. "
She stood up, " It's alright. Let him be in his girlfriend's arms, but I got to do it. There's little time left anyway. "
Krishnangi didn't stop, until she found what they'd been searching for. She finally found out the mystery door, in the storehouse of the medical college, built on the periphery of the campus. Out of everyone's eyes and suspicion. A clever move!
Out of curiosity, when she stepped inside the shabby house, the rotten wooden floor beneath, gave way to her. She slipped her footing, but not enough to get injured and luckily got the clue of the underground door -the one which was to be open with the lever- which will lead to the secret, they'd been wanting to unveil for so long.
" Oh crap! So this is what has been hidden for so long. Why no one even had a suspicion on it? " she muttered to herself and looked up where the artificial floor of the storehouse is.
" Maybe, no one assumed that there could be an underground passage. Let's see what's in there. " she moved along the dark path, using the flash light from her phone.
The lonely way, then ceases revealing a gruesome scene to her. Before her, lay half rotten carcasses of humans. Their bodies cut and stitched carelessly, since she could see the organs and intestines popping out of it's body. Their eyes missing from the sockets and mouth agape, as if screaming for life, until death took them in their grasp. Controlling her urge to puke, she walked more into what seemed like a room to her.
" Light! " she partially opened the door and froze, upon seeing the next thing.
Entering inside the room, she stared at her surroundings. The confined space resembled a surgical room with no hygiene measures at all.
Surgical scissors and gloves were scattered on the wooden table at the corner, blood clots visible from afar. There are many syringes and trays with strong sedatives like morphine and propofol, that Krishnangi could recognise from her lectures.
But, that's not what surprised her the most, it was the glass jars, of various sizes, on the big steel shelf and the content inside the jars. Various organs like eyes and kidneys were dipped in the liquid, formaline and packed inside those containers. Krishnangi realised what's the matter here.
Illegal organ racket!
That brought shivers down her spine. She quickly pulled out her phone to call Ruhaan when it was snatched away from her hold, " What- "
" What's the matter with the kids nowadays, huh? Always interfering with other people's business. Didn't your mom and dad teach you anything? " the man dropped her phone to the ground and crush it with his shoes. A dark look marring his aged face.
" Rastogi? "
•
" Damn it chicken eyes! Pick up the damn call. " Ruhaan punched the steering wheel.
Krishnangi wasn't picking up his calls. She hadn't even replied back to his messages. It annoyed him out of his wit, since he'd gotten an important thing to say to her.
He looked down at Vihaan's phone. It got repaired before the said time. And after that, the files and the data were retrieved, though the audio was not in hearing condition.
That's when he found out the footage on the device. The video footage of that night, when Vihaan was found half-dead.
It showed two bulky men manhandling a boy. Probability is that, Vihaan might be the person doing the video. The two men gagged him and took him to a dark place, then the video was turned off. Then a few seconds later, the video was resumed in front of a house like structure. It was a place, that was known to Ruhaan; the storehouse of their medical college.
He tensed, when Vihaan entered the scene. He fight against the men and threatened them about something, but before he could act on, one of them hit his head with the wooden lathi he was carrying.
Vihaan tried to get up, said something to the boy, tried to free him from their grip, but in the blink of an eye, a sharp dagger was sliced down his body.
Ruhaan's eyes get covered with mist, looking at the video of his brother, losing his consciousness. The boy wriggled against their hold, but fell silent when a syringe like thing was pushed on his neck. For a good five minutes nothing happened, only Vihaan's body lay there motionless on the screen.
Ruhaan sighed and was about to put the phone back, when he noticed a difference in the scene. Someone's shadow hovered over the phone and it was picked up. Due to darkness, he could barely make out the person, but Ruhaan was all too familiar with the face. He clenched his jaw, when the man smirked at the camera, as if mocking him at his inability to do anything and then with a loud crash, the screen blacked out.
He rubbed his face and pulled at his hair out of frustration, " I should've listened when Krishnangi warned me against Rastogi. I should've fucking listened when she told me to think about the matter of illegal organ business. I should've- wait. Where is she now? Is she investigating by her own? "
He dialled her number again, " Knowing how stupidly courageous she is, she could do it. Fuck fuck fuck! She shouldn't go to the place alone. It's dangerous for her. What if something happened to her- " he ignited the engine and made his way to the medical college.
In that moment, all the logical thoughts flew out of his mind as his brain stuck at only one thing; Krishnangi. He couldn't let her be in a situation like his brother. He couldn't lose her to the worst situation of all. He just couldn't.
Not now, that he realised-